NEW YORK – SpringWorks Therapeutics on Wednesday said it has in-licensed a portfolio of EGFR inhibitors from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and inked drug development partnerships with Stanford Medicine and Ab Magnitude.
The in-licensed agents — originally developed in Nathanael Gray's lab at Stanford Medicine — are designed to treat lung cancers with both de novo driver mutations and acquired resistance mutations following treatment with existing EGFR inhibitors. The lead asset in the portfolio targets the C797S resistance mutation.
Under the terms of their agreement, SpringWorks will make an undisclosed upfront payment to Dana-Farber for the rights to its EGFR inhibitor portfolio. Dana-Farber is eligible to receive further milestone payments and royalties. Under a sponsored research agreement, SpringWorks will also pay Gray's laboratory at Stanford Medicine and collaborating Dana-Farber labs to conduct R&D that will advance its drug discovery capabilities and early-stage therapy pipeline, and help it prioritize EGFR inhibitors to take into the clinic.
Separately, Stamford, Connecticut-based SpringWorks also said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Ab Magnitude Ventures Group and Ab Magnitude Fund — collectively dubbed Ab Magnitude — to develop targeted lung cancer drugs including those in the new in-licensed EGFR inhibitor portfolio. Ab Magnitude will use its computational platform to help characterize and optimize the agents in the portfolio.
Beyond the in-licensed EGFR inhibitors, Ab Magnitude will also help SpringWorks discover new cancer therapeutic targets. Under the terms of the agreement, Ab Magnitude is eligible to receive low single-digit percentage royalties contingent on net sales or value that comes out of the partnership.